


Finding Wings

by machine_gun_manda_panda, nerdzeword



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, dramione - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-11
Updated: 2015-02-08
Packaged: 2018-02-20 19:21:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2439977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/machine_gun_manda_panda/pseuds/machine_gun_manda_panda, https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdzeword/pseuds/nerdzeword
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ginny befriends a lonely Draco Malfoy, she is determined to help him forget his woes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Fic idea that stems from a facebook chat, so I can't take all the credit for it. In fact, future chapters may be written by some other members of said chat. 
> 
> As always, all characters belong to her royal empress JK.

Ginny stumbled into the Room of Requirement, laughing as she went. After Fred and George's impromptu escape the year before, Ginny had been placed in charge of distributing products and playing pranks. She tossed the unused products on a quickly forming pile in the corner as she wandered further and further in. She needed to give them enough time to stop looking for her before she left anyway. She heard cursing from her left.

Curious, Ginny wandered closer, peeking over a pile of broken furniture. She gasped when she realized what she was seeing. Malfoy. Draco Freaking Malfoy was cursing at a small bird, trying to get it to fly back into the open cage in his hand. Ginny had no idea why he was there or what he wanted with such a small bird, but the sight of him trying to force the small bird into the cage was so out of place that she couldn't help but laugh out loud. She realized her mistake when he sent a curse flying in her direction. She ducked and instantly retaliated.

What few people realized was that Ginny Weasley could easily been the most skilled witch in her year, especially when it came to hexes. She vaguely remembered hitting Malfoy with a particularly excellent bat boogey hex at the end of last year. Ahhh memories. Apparently Malfoy remembered too because as soon as he saw her, he stopped his attack.

“WEASLEY?!” My my he was surprised, he never used her real name. She placed her hands on her hips, her wand grasped loosely in her right, just in case.

“Malfoy.” she replied, ready to strike if he so much as twitched.

“What are you doing here Weaslette. Get out.” He snarled. There it is.

“Why should I? It's a free castle, I can go wherever I want.” She stared back defiantly, almost wishing he would give her a reason to hex him. She had a new one she wanted to try. Instead it was almost as if the Slytherin seemed to deflate.

“Just... leave me alone Weasel.” He sighed, turning back to the bird. Now she was curious, not that she was going to tell Malfoy that. She would just have to do some investigating. After all, one thing she knew for certain was that Malfoy's did nothing without a reason and they most certainly did not turn their backs on an opportunity to irritate a Weasley. She finally just shrugged and turned to go. Just before she turned the corner out of sight, she called over her shoulder to him.

“If you really want to get the bird to come to you, you've got to bribe it, not yell at it. Really, what bird do you know that comes when you yell profanities at it?” She talked fast to avoid thinking about the nerves that picked at the back of her brain. Malfoy was now an unknown. Why was she helping him at all? She should be spewing curses at him, not helping him. Yet she did it anyway. She turned and nearly ran to the door, completely missing the look of astonishment on Malfoy's face as she left.

  
  


It was eight days later and Ginny had yet to miss a day to come visit the bird. She often brought snacks for the poor thing, heaven knows Malfoy couldn't be trusted to take care of it. Of course he had managed to get it back into the cage so that was something.

She cooed at the small bird as she slid apple slices through the bars of the cage. She briefly wondered why Malfoy didn't just keep the bird in his dorm like a normal person. He probably just doesn't want anyone to know he has a heart. She smirked to herself. Her head shot up however as she heard stomping feet headed in her direction. Well crap. She didn't bother moving, there was no time for that now, she merely watched as the green robes that defined all Slytherins swished into view.

To her immense surprise, the only thing Malfoy did was glare at her.

“So it was you who's been fattening him up.” He threw his bag off to the side. “I knew you couldn't be trusted.”

“Well obviously I had to, I don't trust you to take care of anything.”

He rolled his eyes, “Honestly Weaslette. I look out for my own.”

“Don't call me that!” She shrieked, pulling out her wand. Unfortunately for her, Draco was faster, and before her wand had made it past her robes, his was pointed at her face.

“What would you suggest I call you instead then?” He said quietly, almost challenging her. Ginny however was not like her brother, and knew how to control her temper.

“How about my name!” She snarled at him. Okay so she was still working on the control part. He cocked his head to the side, still not removing his wand. Ginny thought he looked a bit like a dog.

“And why would I do that?”

She stared at him, trying to read his expression. “Merlin! You don't even know my name do you?” She grinned in glee when she saw a hint of pink touch his cheeks. “Okay then. I think if we're going to be taking care of this bird together than we should come to a truce. That means everything that happens outside those doors, stays outside of those doors. Which means, at least in here, you call me Ginny. Deal?”

He had removed his wand from her face, but he still sneered at her. “What makes you think I'm going to let you help take care of my bird?”

“Well I imagine you probably don't have permission to even have your bird anyway do you?” She thought she might of seen something close to respect flash through his eyes at that.

“You drive a hard bargain. Well then Ginny you have a deal.” he stuck out his hand which she took with a little grin.

 

It wasn't long before she got into a routine of sorts with Malfoy. She would show up to dispose of evidence, and do homework with the bird for company while she hid from her most recent victims, and within a half an hour, Malfoy would show up with some sort of food for the bird, and they would study together until Ginny's next class, or dinner, which Draco would often skip altogether. This had been going on for several days before Ginny finally gave up on trying to keep silent, and thus proceeded to try to goad Malfoy into conversation.

It was another three days before he cracked. Once he let down his defenses around her, it was like a floodgate opened and a completely different Malfoy emerged. He was smart and funny, he helped her with her potions essays and gave her tips on how to best prank various members of his house.

“Oh?” She said one day “And why don't you care if I prank Parkinson? Is she not 'one of your own'?” He snorted and continued with his Astronomy charts.

“Hardly. There are actually very few people on that list. Believe it or not, not many people actually like me enough to get sufficiently close to me. Pansy has a rather creepy fascination with me, but it is completely one sided I assure you.”

“Oh really? You know everyone assumes you and her are together.”

He snorted again. “She probably started that rumor herself.”

“Well then, who do you like?” She eyed him suspiciously but he shrugged and looked at her through his blonde fringe

“What makes you think I would tell you even if I did have someone Weasley?” She grinned and he didn’t like it one bit.

“Call it a woman's intuition I suppose. So if you don't have anyone specific in mind, then what would your ideal woman be?” She scribbled another line on her charms essay, no longer particularly interested in the subject. He looked thoughtful for a moment.

“She'd have to be at least as smart as me. I would get bored way too easily otherwise. And not afraid to challenge me, or tell me I'm wrong. You've kind of prompted that one since I've found I rather like arguing with you. She'd have to be bloody gorgeous of course. That automatically rules out Parkinson, see?” He smirked at her shocked face. She hadn't thought he would actually answer her. “What about you, Red? What would you go for in a guy?” She looked thoughtful, then grinned.

“Don't mind me, I already have someone in mind. It's just getting the idiot to see it too that's the problem. Also the fact that I'm currently dating Dean Thomas.” She told him affirmatively.

“Oh really? And how are you going to go about that?” He asked her with a smirk.

“See that's where my plan falls short. I have no idea how to get him to notice me!” She flailed her arms with exasperation.

“Have you tried making him jealous?” Draco asked kindly

“What do you mean?”

“Well the one thing that's true with all people is that everyone wants what they can't have. Try flaunting your relationship with Thomas.”

“You know,” she said slowly, “that might actually work.” He shrugged and turned back to his charts.

“Of course it will. Now you should probably get going or you're going to be late for History of Magic again.”

She scrambled to pull all of her stuff together, swearing all the way. He only smirked at her as she left.

 

It was another two weeks before Ginny got up the courage to ask Draco the question that had been plaguing her for the past three weeks.

“Hey Draco?” She looked up at him from her position across from him on the floor of the room of requirement. He was laying on his stomach writing one essay or another.

“I told you not to call me that. Not everyone is as friendly as you are, Red.” He told her without looking up.

“Oh come off it, you and I both know you don't actually mind.” She shook her head to clear it. “Who is on that list anyway?” Ginny watched him stiffen, then he relaxed again.

“What list?” he asked casually, still not looking at her.

“You know perfectly well what list I’m talking about. The list of people who you would be willing to protect.” He sighed and looked up at her.

“That list is incredibly short.... meaning it has three people.” He swatted his hand when she poked him with her quill.

“So who's on it?” she prompted him.

He groaned and ran a hand across his face.

“My parents and you,” he almost whispered. She grinned like a mad woman.

“Aww Draco! I love you too!” He collapsed back onto his homework.

“Do your homework, Ginny,” he told her with a growl. The only thing she could think was that she would definitely have to expand that number.

 

“Come on 'Mione! You can't still be mad at me can you?” Hermione spun around, her eyes flashing and Ginny had to cover up a grin.

“Yes Ronald, I can! You have been snappy and rude for the past week, and the only reason you're not being that way right now is because you want something from me. Too bad, do your own homework. I'm done.” She stalked off and Ginny looked after her with a little grin.

She had just found her first friend for Draco and if she played this right, maybe even more. After all, it only made sense for her best guy friend and best girl friend to get together. When she thought about it, Hermione was actually perfect for him. She was the top of their class, wouldn't let him push her around (as evidenced by her argument with Ron) and she thought that they would look absolutely fabulous together.

Now she just needed a plan.

 

Ginny was sitting at one of the tables in the great hall working on revisions when she was joined by a dreamy looking Luna Lovegood.

“Hello!” Luna said, sitting across from her. “Were you aware that Draco Malfoy is staring at you? I think his head is infested with Nargles.” Ginny grinned at her.

“You know I think his brain is infested with Nargles, but he's staring at me because he had recently admitted to me that I am his best friend and I think it rather irritates him.”

“Ah. Alright then.” That was what Ginny loved about Luna, she never judged people for what they had done or might be doing.

“Say Luna. Do you think Draco would be a good match for Hermione? I think she needs to get over my ass of a brother, and what better way to do that then to get a boyfriend!” Luna looked contemplative for a moment or so, tapping her long fingers against her lips.

“I agree that they would be a good match, should they get over their previous prejudices. They are both very smart, top of their class I believe. And they are both rather passionate, which is why they argue so much to begin with I think.” Ginny grinned even wider if possible.

“Great! You're going to help me get them together.” Luna smiled pleasantly.

 

It was another two days before Ginny deemed the timing appropriate to initiate her plan. She started laying plans before the Slytherin/Griffindor quidditch game, and finally set them in motion the day after. She felt kind of bad for using Hermione's heartbreak over Ron against her, but she thought it would be more productive that way.

She couldn't have been more wrong.

“What did I do wrong!?” She wailed to Luna later.

“Well I think subtlety would have been more appropriate, considering that both of them were still really worked up from the game. You played wonderfully by the way.” Luna was to the point as always and Ginny reveled in her friend's brilliance.

“Right. So here's the new plan.”

 

Draco tried hanging out around Slughorn's party, trying to catch Ginny so he could give her the present he had gotten her the week before. He knew she was going home the next morning, and the likelihood that he would be able to get her present to her before then was next to nothing. He had seen very little of his friend in the past week or so, between quidditch (which he had opted out of for reasons that he would never admit to Ginny under any circumstances,) and revisions. Contrary to the beliefs of many, he cared quite a deal about his grades and spent an outrageous amount of time in the library. He watched the party out of the corner of his eye and silently wished he could remember how to have fun. The closest he got anymore was his afternoons with Ginny in the Room of Requirement.

Draco felt something grip his ear and his heart fell. This was not how he wanted to make his presence known. Besides, Snape was in there and he was making a point of avoiding the potions master. He sighed and let himself be dragged into the room by his ear. Scowling at everyone he passed. He saw Ginny in the corner next to Dean Thomas, and scowled harder when he noticed her starting to laugh. He tried to let her know he had something for her with his eyes and a few almost unnoticeable head movements. She smiled and nodded slightly. If he didn't know better, he would have said that she was plotting something.

Draco was even more upset when he was dragged along by Snape, and forced to endure a string of questions that his professor was sure to know he couldn't actually answer anyway. He made up some bullshit reason, saying he was trying to steal Draco's glory or something. In all honesty, he could have it, for all Draco cared. He didn't want this stupid assignment; he didn't want to have his life resting on some stupid task. However unfair the reality was though, it was still real.

There were days when he wondered if it was even worth it. If he would be better off just letting himself go, not fulfilling his task. Then he would see Ginny's face covered in tears and he would once again be determined to succeed.

He stopped in front of the Room of Requirement and let himself breathe out a sigh of relief. This place always made him feel calmer. He stepped inside and noticed that Ginny was already there. She grinned at him.

“That was quite the show you put on back there.” She laughed. He scowled at her, but couldn't bring himself to really mean it.

“Fine. I'll just keep this present I got you.” Her eyes lit up

“You got me a present! Awww Draco you do care!” He tossed her the box, which she tore into with much gusto. She squealed when she finally got it open. (He had placed permanent sticking charms on all of the tape.)

“Draco I love it!” She threw her arms around her neck. “Here help me put it on!” She held out her wrist to him. He smirked at her and helped her wrap the silver charm bracelet around her wrist. It only had one charm on it, in the shape of a broom. But he was determined to get her more. She suddenly bit her lip. “I didn't get you anything.” He was going to protest about him not needing anything, when she ran off, calling for him to wait right there, she would be back.

 

It was almost an hour before he heard the door open. He looked up from the homework he had started, but instead of finding Ginny standing there, he was looking into the chocolate brown eyes of Hermione Granger. His first thought was “How in the hell did Ginny find out about my crush on her?” He then shrugged that thought off, because not even Ginny knew him well enough to know about his super-secret crush on Whiz-kid Granger.

“Granger,” was all he could say.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get just a bit more complicated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was written by the lovely machine_gun_manda_panda (aka Amanda) In case you guys haven't realized, she is also my beta for just about every other fic I've written.   
> I'm not even sure how the chapters are going to work from here, we may switch off writing, like we have thus far, or we may just play it by ear.   
> Let us know what you think!

“Granger.” Malfoy said without emotion.

Hermione continued to stare at him, hands on her hips and her cheeks red from running.

“What have you done with Ginny? She told me it was urgent that I met her here. Where is she?”

“I don’t know, I was wondering the same thing.”

“The same thi--- Malfoy, what are you talking about? Why would YOU be waiting for HER. You don’t even know her!” Hermione was confused and when she got confused, she got angry.  She replayed everything from the last few minutes in her head. When she walked in, Draco was calm and doing homework. Why would he be doing homework in the Room of Requirement? Why was there even a table to do homework in this room? Besides the study space, the entire room was full of random, discarded things: books, robes, old cauldrons, a broken cabinet. And why were there the books of a  fifth year sitting on the opposite side of the table as Malfoy? Was he tutoring someone or was he using them for reference. Or worse yet, was he actually waiting for Ginny to return. Oh, Merlin. Are they secretly together?! Hermione quickly shook that thought from her head and realized that Malfoy was talking.

She looked at him, her posture a little more relaxed than when she first walked in. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

“Wow, Granger. I think this is the first time I’ve ever witnessed you not paying attention to something a superior was saying to you,”  he snarled. His irritation was growing because Ginny wasn’t around. Why the hell had she sent Granger here? This was their room.

At that thought, the room began to shift. He saw Granger take hold of something that soon vanished and she toppled over, which would have been funny if Draco hadn’t done the same thing right after. As the room began to slow, he saw a flash of red and then heard the sound of a door closing. From the look on Granger’s face, she saw it too and stood up abruptly, going after the door. It was then that Draco realized that the room had stopped.

He knew how Ginny was and if she had something to do with it, there was no used going after her. Instead he surveyed the room. It was smaller than usual and contained few things: a couch and a couple chairs near a lit fireplace, a table with two chairs and what looked like dining utensils, and a full bookcase, no doubt, for Granger.

“GINNY! I KNOW YOU’RE STANDING RIGHT THERE. LET ME OUT THIS INSTANT. I NEED TO FINISH PACKING!”

“Granger, will you shut it for one second so I can figure out how to get us out of here," he hissed. Draco had easily blocked out her shouting and fist pounding in the beginning but now she was just being ridiculous and he couldn’t think.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Malfoy. It’s not like I don’t have things to do. The train leaves tomorrow night and it’s not like I’m supposed to be ON IT OR ANYTHING! Honestly, what the bloody hell is she thinking?! My parents are going to be worried sick. They’re gonna write instantly.”

“Did you just curse, Granger? I must say that it suits you very well. Not a goody little two shoes anymore?” Draco’s smooth laughter filled the room and it barely faltered when Hermione shot him a venomous look.

Draco watched her fretting and wanted to laugh more but was too busy observing her movements. She used her hands a lot when she talked. Her arm movements were gentle but calculated and there was no doubt she had used them before. Probably when she was yelling at her incompetent friends. Unlike most people he knew, she stood still when venting instead of pacing. Merlin, he hated when people paced. It was infuriating.

His eyes moved over her body. Doing this made him remember that she was not only the smartest in their class, but also the oldest. I would be the type to have a crush on an older woman. Used to looking at Pansy, Hermione was a interesting change. She wasn’t petite like Pansy, who, besides a rather nice bottom, was mostly thin. Granger has a nice bottom, too. Damn Draco! Stop looking! He silently scolded himself some more and blamed his reddening face on the heat from the fire. He decided it was best to focus on her face instead.

Her eyes were warm, the color of hot cocoa, and thoughtful. Her eyebrows we pulled together but would jerk up as she thought of different theories about their current situation. She was chewing on the inside of her cheek but every few seconds would stop and look as though she was mentally scolding herself like Draco had done a minute before. Maybe it had something to do with her parents. They did something with teeth, right? He noticed her scrunched nose and the freckles that dotted it.

“What are you looking at?”

Draco was startled by Hermione’s voice but tried to make it look like he was alert the whole time. “Nothing, Granger. What’s it to you?”

She rolled her eyes as a response and then noticed the bookshelf. “Oh my goodness! Why didn’t I think of it before? Of course she would hide the answer in a book. I’m so daft sometimes.” Hermione ran over to the book case and started scanning the titles.

“What book would she hide it in, though? There has to be at least a hundred here.”

“She’s not stupid, Malfoy. She knew I would be the one to figure it out so she would hide it in a book that I know.” She turned and looked at him expectantly.

“What?”

“That doesn’t mean you just have to stand there. Get over here and help me look.”

Draco looked at her with a scowl for a few seconds before shrugging and walking toward the bookshelf. He scanned a couple shelves before he realized he still didn’t know what he was looking for. As though she knew what he was thinking she said, “Try looking for titles you don’t recognize. It could be in a muggle book. Probably older or at least used.”

Instead of fighting it, he looked some more and found a book that fit the description. “I think I found it,” he said when he opened the cover and it said in neat manuscript, “Property of Hermione Jean Granger. Jean? Really? That’s a rather common middle name don’t you think?”

Hermione snatched the book away and read the title: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. She didn’t  like the feeling in her stomach when she read that title. “Well,” she responded, “we can’t all have ‘unique’ names like Draco Lucius, can we?”

She opened the book to find a loose piece of parchment in it. “Oh no.” Her heart dropped at the written words and she stared at them for a full three minutes before she could speak again. “She wants us to be...friends.”


	3. Chapter 3

A half an hour, three destroyed books and a lot of screaming later, Hermione and Draco were each seated at a different side of the small table, working on homework. The dishes that had previously occupied the space had been displaced to the floor.

Draco was having a hard time focusing on his homework however much he needed to do it, and it had everything to do with the girl sitting across from him. He had never spent so much time with her without one argument or another breaking out, and he found it alarming to say the least. The peace was short lived however as she had finally noticed his inability to focus. Hermione’s face immediately focused itself into a cold wall of anger.

“What!” she snapped at him.

“Nothing.” He said simply, praying to some foreign deity that she would just accept it. Either they weren’t listening or they didn't exist because instead of letting it go, she stood up and yelled at him, Draco almost wished the walls weren't soundproof because then maybe someone would be able to come rescue them.

“What do you want Malfoy!?” She yelled. He was almost tempted to reply “You.” but with as little sleep he’d been getting, he wasn’t that suicidal. Instead he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his face, trying to come up with something that wouldn’t set her off even more. He really wasn’t in the mood for this… well ever. But especially today.

“I’m trying to study. But that mop of yours is distracting.” He mentally hit himself. He was spending way too much time with Ginny. Truth was, Draco actually adored her hair. It hadn’t been truly frizzy since fourth year, and he had always been partial to curly hair. Heck, just thinking about it made him want to reach out and run his hands through it. He grabbed onto his pant leg, not quite trusting his hands to go AWOL and act of their own violation.

She hated him enough already.

 

He sighed. “Look. Hermione.” She started at his use of her first name. He wondered what she would do if she knew he’d been referring to her by her given name in his head for the better part of a year.

“The only way we’ll be getting out of this room, is by working together. So I’m going to tell you what Ginny told me months ago. In this room, nothing else matters, not our prejudices or our quite frankly stupid childish rivalries. I am just Draco, and you are just Hermione. Deal?” she seemed to consider him for a minute before she nodded at him. Draco let out a small sigh of relief when she sat back down. He was not expecting her to give in so easily.

Three hours later, Draco had finally fallen into a companionable silence. One that did not involve looking at the girl across from him every five seconds, when Hermione slammed her book shut. He ignored her and continued reading as best as he could.

He was painfully aware of the fact that she was watching him with her gorgeous chocolate eyes. He would bet money that at least one of her curls had fallen in her face as well. I knew from his earlier observations that it was something that happened often. Unfortunately for him, it would be a bet that he would loose, because there was no way he was going to look at her and risk incurring her wrath. As big of a crush he had on her, Hermione Granger was by very nature a volatile person and who knew what would set her off.

It took another five minutes before he finally snapped and met her eyes. To his immense pleasure, he was right about the curl. His mood was slightly dampened by the realization that having made a bet with himself, he couldn’t actually win anything. He thought this was a stupid problem to be having, and his mind wandered over to what he could possibly win in a bet against himself.

He was dragged out of his thoughts when Hermione cleared her throat.

“Did you want something?” he asked her with the least condescending voice he had. He realized that it was still rather condescending. Damn. Maybe he could practice a less annoying one in the mirror at home or something. Who knew when you might need to sweet talk someone for something. Actually, he distinctly remembered having such a voice as a child. How hard could it be to bring it back?

“I want answers.” Hermione announced and it took Draco a moment to realize that she

was answering his previous question.

“Really? I never would have pegged you as the cheating sort Granger.”  He told her. He then chided himself mentally. “Child voice Draco. Child voice.” This was going to be harder than he thought. Luckily for him, hours of studying seemed to have calmed Hermione down and all she did was frown.

“You know what I mean Malfoy.” She scolded.

“What do you want to know?” he put down his quill and leaned back in his chair. She took a deep breath.

“Why do you talk about Ginny as if you two are friends?”

“because we are.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“Not really, no.”

“Do it anyway.” He sighed

“We started talking and I dunno it just happened.” Hermione rolled her eyes.

“Can you get any more vague Malfoy?” He grinned

“Yes.” Hermione groaned and collapsed on the table.

“But WHY? You guys hate each other.”

“Ah. The real question. And it’s hated Granger. As much as I loath to admit it, Ginny is currently my only friend and i’d like to keep her around for a while. As for why, lets just say it was a mutually beneficial understanding of a nature that I am not at liberty to disclose.” She scrunched her eyebrows together and frowned at him.

“Is that a fancy way of saying that you had dirt on each other so you decided to stay quiet?” He grinned again. Hermione was more perceptive than he realized. Even Ginny would have had trouble with that one.

“Spot on Granger. Congratulations.” He watched her thoughtfully. “You don’t seem surprised.”

“I’m really not. I mean, I was thinking about it and I realized that Ginny has been acting differently for almost two months now. And after thinking about it, so have you.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “I mean you don’t really seek us out for verbal battles anymore.” She amended. He determined that it was probably best not to mention that Ginny had explicitly banned him from seeking out arguments with the ‘golden trio.’

“I decided that Ginny is more fun to insult. I never thought I would get bored with people taking me seriously, but there you go.” He shrugged. It wasn’t until Draco had finished talking that he realized that it was true. Learn something new every day. They fell back into silence.

“Do you want pizza?” Hermione suddenly asked

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

“Do you want pizza?” Hermione suddenly asked

“What the everloving fuck is pizza?” Draco said in a deadpan. Hermione rolled her eyes.

“It’s a type of food that apparently doesn’t exist in the wizarding world.” She stood up and started collecting her books. “But it’s delicious and I am starving. I couldn’t eat all that much at Slughorn’s party because I was avoiding McLaggen and why am I telling you all this?” She froze and stared at him. 

“I don’t understand why you would agree to go with him in the first place actually,” Draco said, ignoring her question. 

“I was trying to piss Ron off to be quite honest.” He raised an eyebrow. 

“Why on earth would you like him? I mean Potter I could understand. Despite his obnoxious goody goody attitude that makes me sick, he’s got an annoying habit of always doing the right thing. Bloody Gyffindor. But the Weasel? All he does is follow Boy Wonder around. You could do so much better than him.” He stated haughtily. _Someone like me._ he thought internally.

“Oh really? And who is better for me then? You?” She replied sarcastically. But Draco could tell she was processing what he said earlier. He snorted.

“Please. I’m the exact opposite of what you need.” He did his best to hide the bitterness in his voice. “I’m not even sure why Ginny insists on being my friend to be quite honest, however she has already told me that I’m not going to get rid of her anytime soon, and I hate to say it but she’s more stubborn than I am.” Hermione gaped at him.

“Oh my God. You have a crush on Ginny!” Draco looked at her shocked face and busted out laughing. 

“Oh hell no. She may be cool, but she’s still a Weasley. Besides, she’s got her eye on Potter. I don’t see why, but she’s made up her mind and hell if I’m going to argue.” 

“How would you know that?” Hermione demanded. 

“Because I’m helping her get him if you must know.” He leaned back in his chair and put his feet on the table. He was suddenly hit by the irony of the situation. Here he was, having a passable conversation about feelings with the girl he’d been obsessed with for the better part of two years. Obviously Hermione was thinking the same thing because she sat down suddenly and cradled her head in her hands.

“I can’t believe I’m having this discussion with Draco Malfoy of all people.” She moaned. Draco smirked at her.

“I can go back to insulting you if you like?” She just stared at him over her arms. Draco had the sudden urge to push her curtain of hair from her face so he could see her eyes.

"I couldn't care less what you do, Malfoy." Hermione just wanted space to think so got up, stomped over the the bookshelf, and grabbed the first book that looked good: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

Draco watched her, watched as she shoved that one curl out of her face, watched as she ignored him, and, despite his brain's logic, decided he couldn't stand her not paying attention to him. At the moment, she was his sun, but to her, he was just another planet. He wanted to be her only planet. "You don't care, huh?" he asked, stalking over to her. "So you won't care if I do this," and he brought his hand up to move her hair out of her face but stopped immediately when she flinched. 

When he stopped and crouched in front of her, she opened her eyes and they were met with hurt and despair. His face was stoic, but his grey eyes were scrunched up with the unexpected emotion. Her own eyes roamed over the planes of his face. From a distance, he looked like he was made of all sharp angles, but up close she could see the roundness of his deep set eyes and the slope of his nose that had a slight bump, no doubt from when she punched him in third year. She could see his bow shaped lips and she lingered there. They were beautiful. The type of lips sculpted on marble depicting the perfect face. Hermione was startled out of her thoughts when Draco stood abruptly. She whipped her head up and saw that his eyes had clouded over with anger.

"You thought I was going to hurt you." Draco's face twisted into the way he used to look at her in their younger years, as though he were smelling something foul. "I just told you that I was friends with Ginny, that she trusts me, that I'm basically handing her to Saint Potter and you still think I would hurt you! You really are stupid for a know-it-all."

Hermione stared up him incredulously. "You did wish death on me at the mere age of twelve. Excuse me for being a little apprehensive," she replied. She refused to be upset by his tantrum. She had been friends with Ron for 6 years, Merlin knew could handle Draco. She looked down at her book. "And if you ever insult my intelligence again, I will see to it that the Malfoy line ends with you. Don't forget," she said with a smile, "what I was doing in this room last year."

"And don't forget who stopped it," he replied with a sneer.

"Yeah. Only because of the Sneak. It wasn't any of your lot who found us," she stated, never looking at him.

Draco thought her words over for a bit and then laughed, realizing then that she was to blame for Marietta Edgecombe's unfortunate bout of acne. "That was you. Merlin, I should have known."

Hermione was unsettled about his abruptly changing moods. "You're psychotic," she mumbled. She watched him retreat back to his studies before resuming her reading, hoping to keep her mind off of the blond sitting across the room. Then her stomach grumbled. “That’s right. The pizza. I wonder if…” she was cut off my the sound of apparation.

“Miss Granger! Dobby has been sent by Miss Weasley to help you!”

“Hello, Dobby. How are you?”

“Dobby is good, Miss. Dobby is great.” Dobby looked back at Draco apprehensively before explaining to Hermione how much he loved working in the castle and how Winky still hadn’t quite recovered. “So,” he said as he finished, “would Miss like anything from the kitchen?”

Hermione asked Dobby to bring up a pizza, asking if he remembered what it was from other times she secretly craved it. He nodded vigorously before snapping away. A few moments later he returned with a pizza and pumpkin juice and said goodnight to Hermione, refusing to acknowledge Draco.

"Mmm," Hermione mumbled around her bite of pizza before offering Draco a slice. He eyed it warily before taking it and settling himself down at the table. 

"This is amazing! How have I never heard about this?" Draco looked up at Hermione with a childish innocence that she couldn't help but smile at. 

"There are a lot of things I'm sure you've never heard of being a--" but she stopped before finishing her sentence. "It is pretty great isn't it?" She grabbed a few more slices and started reading. After 15 minutes, her reading was once again interrupted.

"I'm sorry."

She looked up at Draco who was now sitting in the chair opposite her. "Excuse me?" she choked out.

"I'm sorry. For the whole wishing death on you thing. And calling you a..a..."

"Yeah."

Draco looked down at his hands. "They aren't my proudest moments."

"Your father would disagree."

"My father is a twat." Hermione laughed at that and Draco finally met her eyes. "But anyway. I'm sorry for all of it."

Hermione gave him a small smile and said quietly, more to herself, "I know."

Draco cleared his throat of the awkwardness that had built up. "So, what's that book about?"

Hermione's smile grew bigger, glad to be able to share her enthusiasm for books. Her own friends never dared ask about what she was reading. "Oh it's wonderful. A classic really. It's the story of this scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who successfully reanimates the human mind after death. He makes this hodgepodge person using different body parts, a really grotesque looking man. However, everything goes awry and he believes his creation a monster and shuns him away, letting this defenseless creature on the loose. A bunch of crazy stuff happens after that. It really explores the theory nature versus nurture." Hermione studied Draco's curious eyes. She was reminded of the poor creature now, looking at the scared boy in front of her. They both just wanted love. "You'd really enjoy it. Here," she said, shoving the book towards him, "it's my own, but you can borrow it if you'd like."

"Thanks." Draco grabbed the book and gave it a once over before looking back at his favorite bushy-haired bookworm. She looked nervous. "Let me guess. You don't often let people borrow your books?"

"No. Never really. Books are special to me."

"So does that make me special?" he smirked.

"No. Definitely not." She took another bite of pizza before smirking. "It just means that you're not as vile as you like to pretend." When she got up to get another book, she held out her hand. "Truce?"

"Truce."


End file.
